Why McNish picked the right time to stop

AUTOSPORT's sportscar expert GARY WATKINS was stunned when Allan McNish called him to announce his retirement, but reckons Scotland's world champion has timed it just right

What do you say when one of the greatest drivers of his generation in your branch of the sport phones to say he is retiring? I wouldn't have been able to answer that question earlier in the week, but now I know. "Thank you" and "well done" were the words I said to Allan McNish when he dropped his bombshell yesterday afternoon.

That's "thank you" for all the amazing drives that I have witnessed down the years, and for being so open - a journalist's dream in fact. And "well done" for a bloody great career and knowing when to call it quits, surely the mark of a great sportsman.